Meet the SHEROES - Kriti Makhija

She is a Business Leader in the truest sense and works with one of the leading International consultancy firms – Burson Marsteller. However, there’s more to her than meets the eye, she spends her free time volunteering for social causes too.

It takes a lot to climb the corporate ladder and then find a way to balance your profession, manage your growth and pay attention to your family’s needs. Here’s how our SHERO – Kriti Makhija does it all,

What field of work are you in? How did you happen to enter this field?

I work in the area of Finance, Compliance and Business Management and part of the leadership team. I am the Chief Financial & Compliance Officer of the company responsible for ensuring financial health and governance. In addition to this I am also mentoring several of our business units as their Business Leader. 

Maths has always been my favourite subject and as the complexity and challenge of solving complex analytical problems grew I started enjoying it more. With this, from about grade 9th, I was very clear that I wanted to work in the area of finance and therefore planned my education and career accordingly.

The business management aspect is something I grew into as part of my career curve and is also perhaps part of my DNA as it involves a deep understanding of the work that you do—including informed decision-making, flawless project management ensuring 100% commitment to the vision and setting goals. 

What does it take to get to this position on the corporate ladder?

There are internal and external drivers. Internally, you need to be driven, hard-working, and passionate, dedicated and of course have the acumen for numbers.

You also need a very strong mentor who can guide you towards taking the right decisions in the beginning and help you become a good leader and mentor yourself.  You also need to be a good human being who is trusted by colleagues and inspires team members to learn, grow and give their best. And finally, I can’t deny that you also need some luck on your side.

There are many intelligent and hard-working professionals in the field of finance, but who haven’t been lucky enough with the opportunities that I have got. So I humbly and honestly say that you need some luck and the right mentor to find the right opportunities at the right time. 

What advice can you give young working women?

At one point or another in the course of your career as a woman, there will be a lot of pressure on you to quit. There may be a 100 reasons to quit, and just 1 reason not to—that you want to continue. And that reason should be enough. Once you cross that critical point, it will be easier on you. You will see that your world and family will come together to support you in your decision but the onus is on you not to give up your career, your dream.

In your line of work, what do you think women in the profession need to most improve on?

I believe women are intrinsically very focused and dedicated. They just need to make sure they bring those qualities to work. Otherwise there is nothing in my line of work or any line of work that distinguishes women from men. In finance and in business management, men and women bring different types of skills into the workplace and all those skills are important. 

How do you balance your work / life?

I fundamentally believe that you cannot be of help to others—at home or at work—if you don’t first focus on yourself and work towards keeping yourself happy. So Smile and be unconditionally happy.

Secondly, you need to invest in your family to make sure they understand you, support you and partner with you by investing in your career. Unless you give your family the time and attention they deserve, you can’t expect them to stand with you when you are under pressure at work. 

In my life, I use the weekends to do that. Weekends are my time for family, for my passion—volunteering for a social cause. I also make sure that we plan our vacations systematically, so that we are really taking a break from the world and focus on each other. 

Volunteering has really become a family activity now. It’s where my family and I work together to do our bit for the community as well as use the time to bond with each other.